Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

Here's the consumer price index of Korea from the past year or so. Take a look at the food and non-alcoholic beverages column:

Percent changes from July 2007 to July 2008 shot up 5.9 percent. Then from July 2008 to 2009, they shot up ANOTHER 6.9 percent.

THAT'S 12.8% IN TWO YEARS!

Source: http://www.nso.go.kr/eng2006/e01___0000/e01b__0000/e01ba_0000/e01ba_0000.html?method=view&board_id=102&seq=105&num=105

[asmith]

[gakduki]

[bassexpander]

[Sector7G]

I know, I am about 3 weeks shy of my two-year mark in Korea, and the prices have been steadily rising ever since I got here. Homeplus has even been jacking up the prices on their generic Tesco brand, which used to be a pretty good bargain. But hell, what can you do?

[eamo]

It's shocking.

The Korean herd believe it's all to do with weather, transport costs and seasonal fluctuations. The smart Koreans know it's just the distributers, the middle-men between the farmers and the supermarkets, who jack up the prices.

The classic example was the news story I saw a couple of years ago. The Korean watermelon farmers were complaining bitterly because their normal buyers weren't paying any more than 500 won per watermelon. That's right. 500 won. They had to take it or the melons would've rotted in their sheds. Next thing is those watermelons are being sold in E-mart for 10,000won. What's going on there???

We're getting a royal shafting on food in this country.

[Epicurus]

[Epicurus]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/08/123_50060.html


Cost of Daily Necessities Soaring

By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter

Park Jeong-seon, a housewife living in Heukseok-dong, southern Seoul, recently bought lettuce seeds, after turning the rooftop of her house into a small farm, cultivating diverse vegetables. On top of her concerns over health, were the soaring prices of vegetables that turned her into an amateur farmer.

The cost of daily necessities is rising fast. It has become another burden on the economy, which is likely to face higher global oil prices in the latter half of the year.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation, the price of lettuce has doubled from a month ago. Sesame leaf, another popular vegetable in Korean dishes, rose by 43 percent. Chinese cabbage, the main ingredient in kimchi, soared a near 30 percent. Vegetable prices also rose between 10 and 20 percent due to heavy rain.

Daily necessities that Korea relies on from imports also soared. CJ Cheiljedang, the main importer of sugar, said it is raising the price of sugar by a near 9 percent from next week.

Other importers are likely to follow the decision of the main player in the oligopoly market. Since sugar is the main ingredient for most processed foods, these are likely to see upward pressure soon.

As beans also marked a steep rise in the global market, the daily necessities that are made of beans, such as oil, are expected to see a rise as well.

The prices of processed foods were already hiked around the end of last year, following the global rise among agricultural goods.

The working class is also suffering from the turbulent housing market. The price of "jeonse," Korea's unique rental system of giving a lump sum deposit to the owner, rose by nearly 1.8 percent in Songpa District, southern Seoul, last month alone. It means those who seek a house a 300-million-won deposit have to give 5.4 million won more.

The cost of buying shops in downtown Seoul soared by over 25 percent between April and July. This is also likely to motivate merchants to raise the prices of the goods and services they sell.

The government, however, doesn't have many options as it bids to cope with inflation. A court recently took the side of hagwon, or private institutes, saying it may be against the constitution for the government to put a price cap on hagwon fees. A global oil price hike, which has more than doubled since last December, is also adding to its concerns.

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